Dreamscape
by Ghostwriter
Summary: HISB The Rangers have to enter a dreamworld to save a friend.
1. Feeling Different

DREAMSCAPE

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

No, you're not seeing things, and yes this is the next installment of my "How It Should've Been" series. Takes the place of "A Chimp In Charge" and features Melissa from "Different Drum" and "Dimension Of Regret". Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. I only own the new plot, the subplots, and any characters you don't recognize. Sign is in bold.

It was a typical day at Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar. Richie was working a shift; Zack was talking to Angela by one of the weight machines, while various teens were working out, sparring, or using the weight machines. Kimberly was doing a routine on the balance beam with Katherine and Hilary as her spotters and Tommy and Jason were teaching a martial arts class. As they taught the class, their gaze periodically strayed towards the door.

"Where's Melissa? It's not like her to be late," Tommy whispered at one point.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Jason commented. A few minutes later, the class came to an end.

"Sensei Scott, was Melissa sick today?" a girl asked.

"I don't know, Leslie," Jason asked.

"No, there she is," a boy exclaimed, pointing. Jason and Tommy turned towards the entrance to see Melissa running in. As she came closer, they could see tears streaming down her face. Concerned, Jason and Tommy ran to her as Kimberly stopped her routine and followed them.

**Melissa, what's wrong?** Tommy asked. She started signing frantically. **Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, slow down. I can't follow you**, he told her. Melissa did as she was requested.

"**You didn't come to class because you were upset?**" Jason asked vocally, signing at the same time. Melissa nodded. **What happened?** he asked.

**I was on my way here when some kids came up to me and started teasing me about being deaf, saying that I wasn't normal**, Melissa replied.

"**It sounds like they were just being jerks**," Tommy told her, remembering to sign. Melissa shook her head.

**They were right. I'm not normal**, she responded.

**Hey! Don't talk like that! Being deaf doesn't mean you're not normal**, Kimberly told her.

** But in class, you guys always have to sign everything! I hate it! I wish I could be like everybody else!** Melissa burst out. Then, she ran out of the youth center. Kimberly started to call after her, then remembered that the girl wouldn't hear and just ran out, trailing the girl. Tommy and Jason looked at each other and blew out a breath.

"How could someone say that about Melissa?" a girl asked.

"I don't know. Let's go check on her," the same boy said and all the students headed in the direction the girl had run.

"We've got a good class, Bro," Jason commented.

"Yeah, we sure do," Tommy agreed and the two turned their attention to cleaning up. On the moon, Rita had seen everything. _Well, I couldn't have planned this better if I tried. Good thing Zedd's taking another one of his naps so that he can't get in my way_, she thought. An unexpected-though not unwelcome-side effect of Zedd's life-force being drained was his need to sleep for practically an entire day to recharge.

"So, their little deaf friend is down in the dumps about her condition, is she?" the space witch asked. "Say that gives me an idea," she continued, an evil grin appearing.

"Ooooh, I know that look, Sis. You're onto something," Rito commented. _And it's going to be really nasty_, he thought.

"Oooooh! I can't **wait** to hear what Empress Rita has in mind this time," Squatt enthused.

"Yes, her plans are always quite brilliant," Baboo added.

"GOLDAR!" Rita shouted and the griffin came running in, Scorpina close behind.

"Yes, Empress?" he asked.

"I want you to open up my dreamscape. I plan to send the Rangers' little deaf friend there," she replied.

"Of course. While physically, she'll appear to be sleeping, her soul will be in the dreamscape, and if she sees something she wants or desires, she'll never want to leave," Goldar said.

"And the longer she stays in the dreamscape, the deeper her soul fades until-" Scorpina continued.

"Her life is mine," Rita finished, breaking out into evil laughter.

"What about me, Empress? What can I do?" Scorpina asked as Goldar went to do as he was told.

"You will go down with one of my monsters," Rita answered and then hurried to Finster's lab.

"What can I do for you, Empress?" Finster asked.

"I need a monster that will distract the Rangers and keep them from finding their little friend in my dreamscape," Rita replied.

"Right away, Empress. I will check my molds to see what can be of use," Finster said.

"Excellent," Rita approved. Then, she walked out of the laboratory. While this was going on, Goldar chanted in a foreign language and with a crackle of energy, a portal opened. _Excellent_, the griffin thought to himself. He continued chanting until a dome-like gold sphere enveloped a house and a terrible grin came upon his features. Later that night, Melissa changed into her pajamas and then got into bed and closed her eyes. Then, a pleased smile graced her features as unnoticed; a white glow surrounded the girl and covered her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

For the record, I am not deaf and I don't use sign language, so I'm not going to pretend that I can even **begin** to understand how a deaf person may feel as part of the hearing world and I mean no offense. I am, however, hard of hearing and wear hearing aids, and there are times when I have been without my hearing aids and I have not been able to hear anyone without them practically shouting, and it **is** frustrating when I can't understand what's going on. Again, no offense to the deaf community is intended.


	2. Friend In Danger

DISCLAIMER

Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. I only the subplots as well as plots and characters you don't recognize. Dreamscape is in italics.

In the Command Center, the alarm blared shrilly, awakening Alpha.

"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!" the robot yelled, running towards the consoles.

"Alpha, run a scan to see what has caused the alarm and have it appear in the globe," Zordon instructed. Alpha did as he was told and to his surprise, the viewing globe brought up the image of a house. To the robot's further surprise, the house was enveloped in a gold domelike energy beam.

"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi! Is that what I think it is?" Alpha wondered.

"I'm afraid so, Alpha. Contact the Rangers at once," Zordon replied and Alpha pressed the button on the console that was tied to the Rangers' communicators. The Rangers were all sleeping peacefully when a six-tone chime woke them up.

"Yeah?" Jason's groggy voice asked.

"Report to the Command Center at once," Zordon instructed. The Rangers quickly dressed and then did as they were told.

"I am sorry for disturbing your rest, Rangers, but scanners have detected something disturbing over a house in one of your neighborhoods," Zordon apologized.

"What is it?" Zack asked.

"Behold the viewing globe," Zordon intoned and the Rangers turned towards the small globe.

"That's Melissa's house," Kimberly gasped.

"Zordon, what are Rita and Zedd doing to her?" Tommy asked in concern.

"The sphere you see is the doorway to her dreamscape dimension. Once inside, the person dreams of what they desire most, making them unwilling to leave," Zordon told them.

"So, you're saying, she would stay asleep?" Zack questioned.

"Precisely," Zordon replied.

"What will happen if she doesn't wake up?" Aisha questioned.

"The longer Melissa stays in the dreamscape, the more her soul fades…until ultimately, she will die," Zordon intoned. Kimberly gasped in alarm and Tommy put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze.

"Rita's gone too far this time," Rocky declared.

"Zordon, we have to get her out of there," Katherine stated.

"Is there a way we can get in?" Jason asked. _We can't just leave her there. No way_, he thought.

"I'm sorry, Rangers, but only Rita can open or close the portal," Zordon told them and the Rangers let out noises of distress.

"There **has** to be a way to get inside," Trini commented.

"Billy, can you think of a way to get in?" Kimberly questioned.

"Negative. Unfortunately, the dreamscape is well out of my area of expertise," Billy answered. The Rangers groaned and Jason spun around nervously. What were they going to do? They couldn't just leave Melissa there!

"Wait a minute. Maybe there **is** a way," Adam said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Tommy questioned.

"I know Rita's in control of the portal to the dreamscape, but maybe we can sneak in," Adam said.

"How?" the others asked.

"By linking up with Melissa and willing ourselves in," Adam asked.

"What, you mean like in the _Dream Warriors_?" Katherine asked.

"Exactly," Adam confirmed.

"It's worth a shot," Jason agreed. "What do we have to do?"

"We all lie down and I can pull us in," Adam replied. Jason started to say something, but was cut off by the alarm blaring once more.

"Now what's going on?" Zack asked.

"Rita has sent down Scorpina and another monster," Zordon replied and the Rangers immediately turned to the globe. To their horror, Scorpina and a large snake-like creature with red and yellow banding were seen destroying downtown Angel Grove.

"Uh…did Rita transform a coral snake?" Billy queried nervously.

"Aren't those usually in Arizona or something?" Jason asked.

"Aw, man. I **hate** snakes," Rocky commented, his eyes wide.

"I'm not fond of them myself," Zack muttered.

"The creature you see is not from Earth. It is Mirratron, one of Rita's most deadly monsters," Zordon told them.

"Mirratron, that means it can mimic anything, right?" Adam asked.

"Precisely, Billy. Though, he will generally turn into whatever he deems will be most frightening to his opponent, giving him all of the creature's powers," Zordon answered.

"So basically, he has fangs?" Rocky asked.

"Precisely," Zordon said again.

"Okay, Kim, Zack, Adam, Rocky, and I will go save Melissa, while Billy, Tommy, Kat, Aisha, and Trini take care of Mirratron," Jason instructed.

"Right," everyone said. Then, Billy, Tommy, Katherine, Aisha, and Trini morphed and quickly attacked the monster and Scorpina simultaneously.

"What do we have to do?" Kimberly asked.

"I can get us in," Adam assured.

"Be careful, Rangers. Once inside, you run the same risk as Melissa. You may be faced with your deepest desires…even if you aren't aware that you have them," Zordon cautioned as the remaining Rangers lay down on the Command Center's floor.

"Understood," Jason said. Then, as the Rangers joined hands, "Take us there, Adam." The five teens closed their eyes.

"Focus on Melissa…on her house…we have to get inside the dome," Adam said quietly. "Just let your body relax and take you into a deep sleep." Each Ranger did as they were told, and were soon fast asleep as Zordon and Alpha watched in concern.

"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi! I hope this works!" Alpha exclaimed.

"As do I, Alpha. As do I," Zordon agreed. _When Jason, Rocky, Adam, Kimberly, and Zack woke up, they found themselves at a school._

"_Where are we?" Kimberly asked in confusion._

"_Probably Melissa's dream," Adam surmised._

"_Come on, let's go find her," Jason determined, and they headed down the hall, each hoping that they wouldn't be too late. _In the Lunar Palace, Goldar had been keeping an eye on the dimension.

"Empress! Some of the Rangers have entered the dreamscape!" Goldar reported.

"WHAT!" Rita screeched. _They must be trying to save the brat!_ she thought to herself. "Well then, let's just see what their desires are, shall we?" she asked and then pointed her staff at the beam. _The Rangers jumped as a bolt of electricity appeared._

"_What is that?" Adam wondered._

"_It's probably Rita!" Kimberly exclaimed as a gust of wind hit them._

"_Stay together!" Jason shouted. They reached out for each other, only to have the wind push them apart. Jason, Kimberly, Adam, Zack, and Rocky each tried to move towards each other, only to be pushed back._

"_Find each other and remain strong!" Jason shouted before the others were out of sight. When the wind stopped and the Rangers landed, each of them found themselves on their own. _

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I know that in the series, Zack professed a dislike of bugs (especially spiders) and rodents, but from his illusion in "Island of Illusion Pt 1", I got the feeling that he didn't much like reptiles either, and I had always figured he didn't like reptiles anyway, so that illusion didn't really surprise me. And yes, I'll admit I was partially inspired by the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise which belongs to Wes Craven and New Line Cinema, but don't worry, this won't be anything like that.


	3. Fight And Desires

DISCLAIMER

Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. I only own the plot, subplots, and characters you don't recognize.

Meanwhile, the Green and White, Brown, Purple, Blue, and Yellow Rangers had brought out their Power Weapons and were striking at Mirratron. The monster roared in pain as it was hit by the Power Daggers followed by the Dragon Dagger. Then Mirratron hissed and circled around the Rangers, forcing them together and then squeezing against their bodies. The teens groaned in pain as each of them felt their breaths leaving their bodies. _Jason looked around. Where exactly was he? Wherever it was, it appeared to be a park of some sort that was filled with people. _

_ "Jason?" a voice asked._

_ "Kat?" he queried in confusion. __What's she doing here? I thought she was fighting Mirratron__, he thought._

_ "Jason, there you are!" his girlfriend shouted. He let out a noise of surprise as she ran up to him and threw her arms around him._

_ "Kat, what are you doing here? What about Mirratron?" he asked._

_ "Who?" she asked, her face becoming puzzled._

_ "The monster, Mirratron," Jason repeated._

_ "Monster?" Katherine echoed. "Jason, what are you talking about?" she wondered. Jason stared at her in surprise. __Why's she looking at me like that?__ he wondered. Then it hit him: they probably had a normal life: one without Rita and_ _Zedd. Jason's eyes clouded. __It's probably just a trick. You've gotta rid of the illusion__, he thought to himself. _

_"You're not real. You're off fighting with the rest of them," he said. _

_ "Jason, of course I'm real," she insisted. She began caressing his face. "Stay with me. It's what you've always wanted: a normal life. No monsters to fight, no more putting your life on the line…no worries," she enticed, moving closer to the boy. The Red Ranger exhaled shakily. That sounded so good. They'd be able to out on dates without worrying about being called away, no more bruises, lying to their parents, and best of all: no more worrying about being killed. Seeing his expression, she leaned forward and-Jason pushed her away._

_ "Nice try. But I'm not falling for it," he said. Yeah, a normal life sounded good, but without the Rangers, who was he? Someone who was merely content with life? That was no way to live. And if she was here, Katherine would agree. Though still fairly new to fighting, the Red Ranger could tell that she loved the fight just as much as he did. He could see it in the way her eyes would sparkle after defeating another monster. With a howl of rage, Katherine_ _disappeared into a cloud of smoke and the park went away_. _Jason let out a sigh of relief and then hurried_ _off. Zack looked around to see that he was in some kind of building. __Where am I? What's going on?__ he wondered._

_ "Mr. Taylor! Mr. Taylor!" a voice shouted. He turned around. Who was calling him? And why would they call him 'Mr. Taylor'?_ _That was his father. To his surprise, a reporter was running up to him. "Mr. Taylor, can you tell us how it feels to win best choreographer five years in a row?" the man questioned. Zack's jaw dropped. Best choreographer? Was this guy serious? "And do you have any plans to open up more dance studios?" the man_ _added. __Wow. Now this is my kind of life__, Zack thought to himself_. _"Mr. Taylor?" the man asked._

_ "It feels great. And I bet the kids love the Hip-Hop-Kido, right?" Zack asked. _

_"The what?" the man asked, his face becoming puzzled._

_ "Hip-Hop-Kido. You know, martial arts with dance moves?" Zack continued. The man's face lit up._

_ "Oh! This is something new that you've come up with! That sounds really cool!" he enthused. __Something new! What_? _Zack wondered. Then, it hit him._

_"This isn't real. This must've been my deepest desire," he stated. "I want you gone," he told the reporter. Zack watched as the man disappeared in a puff of smoke and the building disappeared. "Whoa. Major funky,"_ _Zack muttered as he continued on his way. _ The Rangers struggled against Mirratron's hold. With a cry, Scorpina threw her boomerang at them just as sparks flew from the monster's body, hitting the Rangers. With a collective cry, they fell to the ground. _Kimberly looked at her surroundings. __Is this a gym?_ _she _wondered. _And if so, was this her deepest desire? _

_ "Kimberly, are you ready to begin our practice today?" a voice asked._

_"Coach Schmidt?" she asked in surprise._

_ "Yes. Kimberly, are you all right?" the man questioned in concern. _

_ "Uh, yeah. I'm fine," Kimberly replied and got on the balance beam and began doing a_ _routine. She took a few steps and then did a flip. Yes! This felt __**so**__ good! If she continued perform like this, she'd get the gold for sure. She took another step and started to do another flip, but then stopped. Something was wrong. Yeah, it felt good to be going to the Olympics, but something just didn't feel right. But what?_

_ "Kimberly?" Coach Schmidt asked. "Kimberly, are you all right?" he checked._

_"Um, I…don't know," Kimberly answered. __Something's wrong.__But what?__ she wondered._

_"Kimberly, if you're worried about the possibility of falling off of the balance beam again, we can take it easy today. I know you still sometimes have flashbacks," Coach Schmidt told her. __I didn't fall off the balance beam. Jason did__, she thought to_ _herself. _ _"Kimberly?" Coach Schmidt asked again._

_ "This-this isn't real. I didn't go to Florida. I stayed home," she stammered._

_ "Kimberly, are you feeling all right?" the man queried, stepping close to her. She did a back flip off the balance beam and got into a defensive stance._

_ "You're not Coach Schmidt," she stated and then let out a gasp as he and her surroundings went away in a cloud of smoke. __Oooh, this is creepy, I'm getting out of here__, she thought to herself as she hurried_ away. _Adam's brows furrowed when he saw that he was in some type of office. __Where am I?__ he_ _wondered. _

_"Mr. Park, are you ready for the meeting?" a man asked. Adam turned around to see a man in a two-piece business suit._

_ "What meeting?" he asked._

_ "With the investors for your new karate school," the_ _man replied. "If we leave now, we should have time to finish the meeting before you have to leave to work on your movie," he_ _continued. He stammered. He owned a dojo and was working on a movie? What was going on here?_

_ "You didn't forget, did you?" the man asked._

_ "No, of course not," Adam_ _lied_.

_"Good. Now come on," the man said. Adam followed_ _him._ _As he did so, Adam couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. __Why am I feeling this way? This is what I've always wanted__, he_ _thought. He stopped._

_"This is what I want the most," he said, causing the man to turn around._

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "To be successful. That's what I've always wanted. But let me guess: I don't have my friends, do I?" Adam challenged. __I've always wanted to be successful. But without my friends…it's not worth it__, he thought._

_ "Mr. Park, in your line of work, you don't need friends," the man said. _

_ "You're not real and I don't want any part of it," Adam stated and the scene disappeared. Adam quickly hurried_ _off. To Rocky's surprise, he found himself in a large, sprawling house. __O…kay. What's going on here?__ he wondered._

_ "Ricardo! Vete acqui!" a woman shouted and the boy hurried towards her voice. His surprise heightened when he met an extremely attractive Hispanic woman with voluminous black hair, high cheekbones and wearing jeans and a_ _t-shirt. __Whoa! She's hot!__ he thought to himself. He could get used to this._

_ "What's wrong?" he asked._

_ "Your son was pretending to be a Power Ranger at school again," she answered._

_ "Uh-oh," Rocky groaned. That couldn't be good. The woman shouted in Spanish and a ten-year old boy came down._

_ "Alejandro DeSantos, what were you thinking?" the woman demanded._

_ "Aw, Mami, I was just playing," Alejandro_ _complained. _

_ "Let guess, you were pretending to be the Gold Ranger?" Rocky smirked._

_ "Gold Ranger? Why would I want to be a Zeo Ranger? The Mighty Morphin' team was the best. Especially the White Ranger," Alejandro replied in_ _confusion._

_"Zeo Ranger? What's that? And why is the White Ranger the best?" Rocky wondered._

_ "Because he never got demoted like the Red Ranger did. Everyone knows that once the White Ranger showed up, the Red Ranger became second in command," Alejandro answered. __What? That never happened. Jason's always been in charge__, Rocky thought. _

_ "Wait a minute," Rocky_ _muttered. "None of this is happening. I'm just being shown what I want," he realized._

_ "Ricardo?" his wife asked._

_ "You're not real," he said._

_ "Ricardo, what's wrong with you?" the woman asked, putting a hand on his cheek._

_"Papi?" Alejandro added, tugging on his shirt. Rocky inhaled sharply. He always wanted to be a father. Maybe this __**was**__ real. __Well, I have to be sure__, he thought._

_ "How many brothers and sisters does Alejandro have?" Rocky asked._

_ "He's an only child. You only wanted one," the woman answered._

_ "You're __**definitely**__ not real," Rocky snarled, pushing her away. "I want out of here now…now!" he_ _exclaimed and Alejandro and the woman disappeared. __That was weird__, Rocky_ _thought to_ himself. _A few minutes later, Rocky, Adam, Jason, Zack, and Kimberly all met up._

_ "Everybody okay?" Jason asked and everyone nodded to the affirmative._

_ "What about you?" Kimberly checked._

_ "I'm all right," Jason assured._

_ "Come on. Let's find Melissa," Zack suggested and they headed_ out. Meanwhile, in Angel Grove, the Rangers had finally been released by Mirratron and quickly brought out their weapons and lunged at the monster and Scorpina. Both creatures let out cries of pain and fell back from the multiple attacks. _Melissa sat in the youth center, talking and laughing with her friends. _

_ "Hey, Melissa, you wanna go to the mall?" Leslie asked._

_ "Yeah, sure," Melissa answered and they all stood up and walked out._ In the Lunar Palace, Rita laughed triumphantly.

"The Rangers may have overcome their temptations, but they'll never save their friend," she stated as she watched as the golden aura darkened as the girl's life-force slipped away.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Yes, I know Rocky's too young to have a ten-year old son, but remember, they're being showed their deepest desires, and I was trying to convey that despite his somewhat prankish demeanor, Rocky wants to some day settle down. And yes, I couldn't resist referencing the canon world in the dream sequences.


	4. Dreams Defeated

DISCLAIMER

Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon. Somewhat inspired by Nightmare On Elm Street which belongs to Wes Craven and New Line Cinema. I only own the plot. I don't remember if they gave Melissa's group of friends names in "Different Drum" so I made some up.

In the Command Center, Zordon and Alpha watched in concert as the Green and White, Brown, Yellow, Purple, and Blue Rangers fought Mirratron.

"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi! Be careful Rangers!" Alpha exclaimed as the Rangers were knocked back. They watched as the Rangers put their weapons together and an energy beam shot out at Mirratron, who cried out in pain and fell to the ground and exploded. Then, they turned to their attention to Scorpina.

"I'll be back," she snarled before disappearing. On the moon, Rita huffed.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY BEAT US! THEY WEREN'T EVEN AT FULL STRENGTH!" she shrieked. Raising her scepter, she turned to Scorpina who tensed when she saw the scepter beginning to glow

"Empress, you haven't lost. You still have the girl," Goldar reminded, quickly getting in front of his wife.

"Yes, you're right," Rita recalled, instantly calming down. The Power Brats would never be able to rescue her because she wouldn't want to leave. The Rangers teleported back to the Command Center.

"Zordon, have Jason and the others found Melissa yet?" Tommy asked in concern.

"Unfortunately not," Zordon replied.

"I wish we could see what was happening," Katherine sighed.

"You can. We have been alternating between monitoring your progress in battle and the other Rangers' mission," Alpha replied and they all turned to the Viewing Globe. _Jason, Kimberly, Zack, Adam, and Rocky kept walking until suddenly-they reached the youth center._

_"The youth center? This is Melissa's desire?" Kimberly asked in confusion._

_"It's probably just the surroundings," Jason_ _answered, opening the door and walking in. At first none of them, saw their friend._

_"Wait. There she is," Zack suddenly said, and pointed. They followed his gaze to see her talking and laughing. At first, they didn't think anything of it. Then they realized something very important: no one was using sign language._

_"She can hear," Kimberly gasped. __Oh, no. How are we going to convince her to wake up?__ she_ _wondered._

_"Come on," Jason said and they all walked up to her._

_"Melissa," Kimberly greeted. Hearing her name, the girl turned around._

_"What are you guys doing here?" she_ _wondered._

_"It must be awesome to be able to hear," Kimberly stated, pulling up a chair and sitting next to her._

_"Yeah, it's great. It's everything I always wanted," Melissa answered, her eyes sparkling._

_"What is she doing?" Rocky hissed and the others shrugged in confusion._

_"So, who are your friends? I don't recognize them," Kimberly_ said.

_"Oh, they're-" Melissa's voice faltered and she turned to the kids. "Who are you guys?" she wondered. "Where are Stacey, Penny, Karen, and Alicia?" The kids glanced at each other._

_"Don't you remember, Melissa? They were kidnapped by one of Rita's monsters two years ago. The Power Rangers didn't get there in time to save them," a girl replied. The girl's eyes widened. Her friends had been killed? It wasn't possible. She had gotten help for them._

_"No! That's wrong! That's wrong!"_ _Melissa shouted, standing up. She turned to Kimberly. "I want out of here now!"_ _she said. Immediately the other teens stood up and started for Melissa. However, Kimberly quickly grabbed the girl_ _and pushed her behind her as the other Rangers ran_ _up._

_"Come on, let's get out of here!" Jason shouted. Melissa panted. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she wanted out of this dream now. __With growls, the kids turned into grotesque creatures and started for the group._

_"Adam, get us out of here!" Rocky shouted_ _and they all headed for the exit. However,_ _when they opened the door, they just found a black vortex. For a moment, they all hesitated. What if it landed them in another dimension? Then, hearing growling behind them, the Rangers gathered around Melissa and quickly went through._ With gasps, Jason, Zack, Rocky, Adam, and Kimberly jerked awake.

"You guys okay?" Tommy asked as they stood up.

"Yeah," Rocky and Adam answered together.

"Funky way to travel," Zack added.

"I'll say," Kimberly agreed.

"Definitely glad we went in together," Jason said. They all turned to the globe where they saw Melissa's house which was no longer covered.

**Honey, are you okay?** **I heard you screaming**, they saw her mom state after turning the light on in her room.

**I'm fine, Mom. Just a bad dream**, Melissa replied. The woman nodded and turned the light back off before closing the door.

"Is she going to be okay, Zordon?" Kimberly asked in concern.

"Other than feeling somewhat drained for the next few days, she will be fine," Zordon assured. Then, Trini yawned. "Go back home, Rangers. You need your sleep," their mentor stated.

"I'm glad tomorrow's Saturday," Aisha said.

"I hear that," Zack agreed. Then, they teleported back to their rooms, where they climbed into their beds and fell back asleep. On the Lunar Palace, Finster glanced at the power meter he had placed on the monster-matic and his features curved into a terrible grin.

"Empress! Empress! Get in here!" he called. Rita, Goldar, Scorpina, Rito, Squatt, and Baboo ran in.

"What's so urgent, Finster?" Rita asked.

"After your next monster is destroyed, Zedd will be completely powerless," Finster repeated.

"That's wonderful!" Rita exclaimed.

"Sis! You've been plotting," Rito accused playfully.

"And once he's completely powerless-" Goldar started to say.

"We can destroy him once and for all!" Scorpina enthused.

"Yay!" Squatt and Baboo cheered.

"Oh, sis. Can I help? I wanna make him pay for what he did to you," Rito stated.

"Don't worry. We'll **all** get a crack at old Zeddy-Boy!" Rita assured. The Lunar Palace echoed with their evil laughter.

THE END


End file.
